Page 12 of The Lieutenant
“I’ll handle that aspect from here, Theo. I assure you that there are clear and easy methods of determining who betrayed us. Now, part two of the deal. You will go on air and make a retraction. Yes?” To place an exclamation point on the end of the rhetorical question, I pulled out a pair of brass knuckles.
They were almost never used, an old method of inflicting pain my father had enjoyed. But being used as a prop? Often. They were priceless; better than having the barrel of a gun placed against someone’s temple.
As I slid them onto my fingers, flexing and fisting several times, Theo was watching. And he was scared. That was evident by the quiver of his lower lip. Good. I wanted his entire world rocked.
“Yes, but I can’t tell you when exactly. I have a full schedule of guests and topics. My producer runs a tight ship and won’t allow me to go off schedule for anything or anyone. I’m certain since you’re a decent businessman that you’ll understand.”
His words came close to being jumbled up. “Yes, I am a decent businessman, but I think you’ll be happy and easily able to change your producer’s mind.”
Theo shook his head. “You don’t understand how angry he gets.”
Jonas couldn’t hold back a snort.
“Apparently you don’t understand what I’m capable of. I’ll leave you to determine how best to handle the situation with your producer, but I assure you I’ll be watching.” I moved toward the door, stopping just shy of reaching it. When I turned around slowly, I had a smile on my face.
Another weapon that I did use quite often was intimidation.
“By the way. You have a lovely family. I know you don’t get to spend enough time with them in your hometown. You took a chance moving here, thinking you hit the big time with your new show. Now, I’m certain you wouldn’t like to see anything happen to them in your absence.”
As anticipated, his eyes grew wide. He’d gone to great efforts to hide the fact he had a wife and child from everyone. The why was easy to see. Every story on his television program was highly controversial. Just like previous articles had been. I’d read a few in doing my research. I was shocked he was even alive after what he’d written. He had more enemies than my entire family did.
“Jonas. I’ll meet you outside. Why don’t you provide our favorite television reporter with one last incentive?” My smile remained huge as I walked out the door. I waited at the top of the stairs for thirty seconds so I could overhear Theo’s plea of leniency.
Before his muffled scream.
I slipped the brass knuckles back into my pocket as I headed down the stairs, enjoying the star-filled night as I headed across the street. I had to admit that sometimes getting away from the typical contract signings and corporate meetings to get down and dirty in the streets was highly entertaining.
Only a few minutes later Jonas returned, looking refreshed from his experience.
“Did he seem to understand?” I asked.
“I believe he did. What do you want me to do about finding out which employees are traitors?”
I thought about his question. “You know how it goes. People love to toot their own horns. Keep an ear out. When you discover a single one of them, bring them to me.”
“You bet, boss. By the way, I must say I am surprised at the strong control of your rage. You’ve been working on that.”
It felt good to laugh. “At least someone noticed.”
CHAPTER 4
Havros
Dimitrios had a blank expression on his face while our youngest brother, Christos, puffed up like a shark. He was more hotheaded than I was, while Dimitrios did his best to keep the peace.
Christos was having trouble falling into his role as the Enforcer. That left a lot of the dirty work on my plate. It was time to have a heart to heart with the man.
“The little fuck,” Dimitrios snarled. “I’ve had four calls this morning about that scathing piece of trash. People have threatened to pull several contracts. We can’t have that. Our business won’t tolerate it. Even the son of a bitch selling the land to us in Paris left me a shitty voicemail.”
We’d worked for months to secure a prime location in the heart of Paris for another nightclub. We had everything locked down, the final meeting a week or so away.
“What do you always tell me?” I asked. “An American term you use quite frequently. Chill out, I believe is the correct usage. I suggest you take your own advice.”
Christos laughed. “You know we have too much at stake.”
“Of course I do.” I glanced from one to the other then back to Dimitrios. “You have that meeting in Paris in a few days. Once that contract is signed, there won’t be a single corporate entity who will go against our demands. Including Milan.”
Our exclusive clubs were all the rage in Athens. We’d begun to take them to other European countries. It was entirely possible we’d eventually land in the United States. Time would tell. Of course, our clubbing business, while tremendously successful, still took a backseat to our export business. Sadly, Theo had alluded to that as well.
